TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Wireless Auction Bidding Under Probe: The Federal Communications Commission said it is investigating whether one or more bidders may have misrepresented themselves in recent auctions of licenses offering interactive television over the airwaves. The agency said the bidders may have presented themselves as “designated entities,” a status that entitled entrepreneurs, minorities and women to win licenses with lower bids. Also, one or more winners may have failed to meet the down payment deadlines for the licenses and may have encouraged other buyers to default on their payments, the FCC said. The agency noted that when it adopted the rules for the government’s first airwaves auctions, it warned it would impose severe penalties for abusing the system.